"Wales Revisited" Video

I've never made a video before (and might never again!!), but I've put together a short piece to try to give an insight into the process of how I go about making an exhibition.  

It shoes me out on location taking photos, my drawings and sketches, and back in the studio making the paintings.

The exhibition in question is a show called "Wales Revisited", which opens at the Lime Tree Gallery in Bristol on Saturday 2nd September.   In 2012, I had a very successful exhibition with them called ‘The Great Welsh Journey’. It documented my travels through Wales in the form of paintings and drawings.

In the years since, I have returned to Wales, mostly to stay on the Gower Peninsula, in order to gather material for this show, so there's been a very long lead-in time and genesis of the exhibition, and a huge amount of work involved.  The idea was to show how revisiting a location can help you understand the landscape and see it with fresh eyes, and I've used paintings, drawings and new media (such as video!!) to explore that.

So here it is - huge thanks to my very patient friend Robert for making it happen.

Another Cutie

Here's another little Gower canvas that's off to the Affordable Art Fair in Bristol.

They're selling like hot cakes, and the fair's not even started yet!!

Purple Flowers, Bracelet Bay (Acrylic on canvas, 8 x 8)

See what else is on the Lime Tree Gallery stand here.

New Paintings Arrive in Bristol

A brand new consignment of my paintings has arrived today in Bristol, ready for the Affordable Art Fair there which opens on September 9th.  It's a lovely relaxed fair, held each year in Brunel's Old Station, so it's great fair to visit, with plenty of local galleries.  All the art is reasonably priced as well.

In addition to my rather sweet set of little Gower canvasses (which you can read about here and here), I have, at the other end of the scale, some big and beautiful, vibrant and textural oils.  

Sharp-eyed regular viewers of my work will spot that I've given them a bit of a makeover, framing them in a new way without glass - yes, no glass!! - and a minimal, modern frame,  which hopefully shows off all that lovely impasto.

There's a set of 8 Welsh canvasses, and 4 large oils which are of Scottish landscapes.

Burn in Spate, Argyll (32 x 40, Oil on linen)

Glen Lochy (32 x 40, Oil on linen)

Narcissi in Bluebell woods, Dalkeith (32 x 40, Oil on linen)

Sunlight on Red Fields, Argyll (32 x 40, Oil on linen)

And here's the new framing.

As you can see (hopefully), it's a narrow silver tray frame, with gessoed inner and outer edges in a nice neutral Farrow and Ball grey, so it should suit all colour schemes.

And no glass!!

Here's a close up of the moulding, which is about an inch or so wide.  (Sorry it's still got the protective shrink wrap from the framers on it.)

Here you can see how the canvas is recessed into the tray frame to allow for the depth of the impasto - otherwise the paint would stick out beyond the front edge of the frame. Obviously, that would be a problem in an unglazed painting when dealing with the amount and depth of paint that I use!!

Have a look at all the work on the Lime Tree Gallery's E9 stand here.  

For a link to the Affordable Art Fair in Bristol, which ends on Sunday 11th September, please click here.

If you go along to the fair - let me know what you think!

New Set of Wales Paintings

Here's a cute little set of new canvasses based on the photographic material I gathered in Wales last month on the Gower peninsula.

The canvasses are all 8" x 8" block canvasses and will be presented unframed.  They are nice and chunky, and are designed so that they can hang on the wall in groups.  I think they look pretty good.

I've done them in acrylic, so that the paint doesn't stand too proud of the surface, and they have a nice fluid look about them with just a little texture.  Acrylic is a water-based paint (but don't get it on your clothes!), but you can still get a nice thick buttery effects with it, or a thin wash if really watered down.  

I think that they look really fun and contemporary.

Big Clouds, Rhossili Bay (Acrylic on linen, 8 x 8)

 Dark Sky, Bracelet Bay (Acrylic on linen, 8 x 8)

 Foxgloves, Rhossili (Acrylic on linen, 8 x 8)

Grasses and Sand, Worms Head (Acrylic on linen, 8 x 8)

 Pink and Yellow Flowers, Bracelet Bay (Acrylic on linen, 8 x 8)

 Sunset, Worms Head from Rhossili (Acrylic on linen, 8 x 8)

 Trees, Caswell Bay (Acrylic on linen, 8 x 8)

 Wet Sand, Rhossili Beach (Acrylic on linen, 8 x 8)

All these paintings will be on show at the Lime Tree Gallery in Bristol later in the year.

Wales Revisited

Back in 2012, I did a show called The Great Welsh Journey at the Lime Tree Gallery in Bristol, which was accompanied by a rather fine little booklet.

Well, I'm just back from the Gower peninsula, where I've spent the last week taking photographs in preparation for another show that reprises the original exhibition.  The idea is that I go back with fresh eyes, and revisit the locations again over a long period. 

So... recognise these...?

Rhossili Beach.

Worms Head (top left in the booklet).

Caswell Bay.  Hullo, tree!

Bracelet Bay, the Mumbles, just outside Swansea.

Beach Huts at Langlands Bay.

The previous time I went, it poured torrentially, and I got drenched, and all my cameras got soaked.  

This time it rained torrentially again, and me and all my cameras got soaked.  Fortunately, I got a really good day at Rhossili, and dashed out between showers everywhere else.

Lots of new work in the pipeline then!

 

Rhossili Bay Painting in Christmas Show

Here's one of my paintings that's currently in the Lime Tree Gallery Christmas show in Long Melford, Suffolk.

Rhossili Bay (Oil on linen, 24 x 26)

This is a painting of the Gower Peninsula in Wales, with the beautiful long stretch of sand stretching into the distance, washed by the sea.  Apparently there's an old shipwreck on the beach, and when the sands and tides are right, you can see some of the timbers.  

You can read more about the wreck of the Helvetia HERE.

For further information about the Christmas exhibition, click HERE and scroll through to see my paintings.

Drying at Last....

Here's another of the final paintings that are beginning to dry nicely (phew), ready to be framed up and shipped off to London next week.

Autumn Trees by Waterfall, Betwys y Coed (Oil on linen 24 x 26)

This is amongst several Welsh paintings that I've done, mostly of south Wales and the Gower peninsula.  However, this one is of a lovely series of waterfalls in spate (thanks to some heavy rain...) on the river which runs through the centre of Betwys y Coed. 

Paintings at the 20/21 British Art Fair

I'm going to have some a whole selection of paintings on show down in London this weekend, at the 20/21 British Art Fair.  The Fair opens tomorrow, and goes on until Sunday 15th.

It's held in the Royal College of Art opposite the Royal Albert Hall, and my work is going to be on Stand 11 with Duncan Miller Fine Arts.  

Here's a look at a couple of them!

River in Early Autumn, Betwys y Coed (Oil on linen, 24 x 26)

Green Valley, Brecon Beacons (Oil on linen, 16 x 16)

Both of these paintings are Welsh scenes, one from Snowdonia in the north, and the other from the south of Wales. 

If you're in London, why not drop in?  They have lots of really exciting work from top British artists and sculptors of the 20th century including Henry Moore, Elisabeth Frink, Frances Bacon and Alison Watt.  Find out more information HERE.

If you'd like an invitation for free entry for two to the fair which you can print out yourself, then drop me an email at judith@jibridgland.com